and we were therefore not a little interested when a Ceycean form tu rn ed up in th a t
locality. Still more were we surprised on finding th a t i t presented a recognizable link
between the E thiopian Ispiäinm and the Malayan Ceyces. The b ill partakes more o f the
form o f th e la tte r genus ; b u t an in n er toe is present as in Ispiditia, though very small. In
th e P la te are representations o f th e bills and feet o f the genera Ceycopsis (figs. 5, 6 a) and
Ceyx (figs. 4, 4 a), while a good figure o f Ceycopsis fa l la x will be found in th e body o f the
work. This concludes th e consideration o f th e short-tailed Dacelonine genera, a synopsis of
which I n e s t proceed to give.
Genus 6. Cetx.
Type.
Ceyx, Lacep. Mem. de F Inst. 1801, p. 5 1 1 ......................................................... C. tridactyla.
Cetjcis, Gloger, Handb. der Na turg. p. 338 ............................................................. ?
Therosa, Müller, M S .................................................................. c. solitaria.
Clavis specierum.
A. Capite e t ru-opygio lilacinis : rostro corallino.
a. Macula ad latera colli Cfenileà nuUà.
a’. Scapularibns lilacinis.
a". Tectricibus alarum nifis, baud c e ru leo l a v a t i s .....................1 . rufidorsa.
b". Tectricibus alarum nigris ac nifis, caeruleo lavatis . . . . 2. sharpii.
b’. Scapularibns nigi-is cseruleo la v a ti s .........................................................3 . dillwynni.
b. Macula ad latera colli cerulea.
a'. Major : interscapulio e t scapularibus n i f i s ................................ 4. melanura.
b'. Minor : interscapulio e t scapulai-ibus nigris ceruleo lavatis . . 5. tridactyla.
B. Capite nigro, ceruleo au t cyaneo maculato : dorso postico c t uropygio
cyaneis, ultramai-inis, au t argenteo-casruleis.
a. Rostro corallino.
a'. Rostro breriore : genis e t regione paroticà nigris : dorso postico
et uropygio argenteo-cserule ìs....................................................... 6. cajeli.
b'. Rostro longiore : genis e t regione paroticà cyaneo aut cesrulco
maculatis: dorso postico e t uropygio cyaneis aut ultramarinis.
a". Scapularibus nigris : dorso postico e t uropygio Ijetè cyaneis . 7. wallacii.
b". Scapularibus ce ruleo lavatis: dorso postico ultramarino;
uropygio cyanescente.
a!". Major : rostro robustiore : maculis loralibus majoribus :
capitis summi maculis e t interscapulio cajrulescentibus . 8. lepida,
b'". M in o r: subtiis intense aurantia: uropygio la te argentes
c e n te .......................................................................................... 9. uropygialis.
b. Rostro nigi’o : capite cyaneo faseiato.
a'. Major : pectore e t abdomine intense r u f i s ..............................10. philippinensis.
b’. Minor: pcctore e t abdomine fiavis: gulà a l b à ........................W. solitaria.
Type.
C. fallax.
Genus 7. Ceycopsis.
Ceycopsis, Salvad, Atti R. Acead. Torino, 1869, p. 447 . . .
Species unica.
Ceycopsis fa lla x (Sehl. Ned. Tijdschr. 1866, p. 387).
Genus 8. M yioceyx.
Myioceyx, Sharpe, antea, p. x i .....................................................................M. ruficeps.
a. Capite rufo, fronte n i g r a ...........................................................................1.
b. Capite nigro, cyaneo fasciato..................................................................... 2. lecontii.
Genus 9. I sp idina .
Type.
Ispidina, Kaup, Fam. Eisv. p. 11 (1848)....................................................I . picta.
Clavis specierum.
a. Dorso laetè ultramarino.
a'. Abdomine rufo.
a". Maeulà auriculari u u l l à ............................................................... I .p ic ta .
Ò". Maculà auriculari c y a u c a ................................................................ 2. natalensis.
b'. Abdomine a l b o ...................................................................................... 3- leucogastra
b. Dorso l i l a c i n o ............................................................................................4.
Genus 10. Syma.
Type.
Syma, Less. A’’oy. Coq. i. p. 688 ( 1 8 2 8 ) ....................................................S. torotoro.
The genus Syma is closely allied to Halcyon, from which it differs in its serrated bill.
In plumage it closely assimilates to th e cinnamon-coloured group o f th e genus Halcyon.
Clavis specierum.
a. Rostro a u r a n t i a c o ......................................................................................1. torotoro.
b. Rostro fiavo, versus apicem n i g r o ............................................................ 2. flavirostris.
Genus 11. H alcyon.
The genus Halcyon has been divided by systematic ornithologists into many genera, a
careful examination o f which convinces me th a t these differences are merely those of style of
plumage, and n o t those o f form. The following table will indicate the manner in which
these genera have been founded :—
Type.
. .Halcyon, Swains. Zool. Illu str. i. text to pi. 37 (1820) . . . . H. senegalensis.
Entomothera, Horsf. Trans. Linn. Soc. xiii. p. 173, note (1820) H. coromanda.